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Schwarzenegger's Revealing '60 Minutes' Interview

Published
5:51 PM PDT, September 30, 2012

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Arnold Schwarzenegger's upcoming autobiography Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, is available tomorrow, but the movie star and former Governor of California spilled some of the details of the tell-all in an interview with Leslie Stahl on Sunday's 60 Minutes.

The book chronicles Arnold's triumphs such as his rise from humble beginnings to Mr. Universe that preceded his superstardom in Hollywood, but he also covers downfalls like his love child scandal.

When asked of what his estranged wife Maria Shriver thought about the book, Arnold responded, "I think that Maria is wishing me well in everything that I do," although he admitted that she hadn't read the book yet.

Arnold praised Maria, saying that while they were together, she had always been his partner. According to Arnold, Maria consulted him on everything from body poses to film roles, but there have been a few major developments that were hidden from her until the last moment.

One of those instances came in 1997 when Arnold underwent open heart surgery without Maria's knowledge. The other came in 2003 when told Maria about his plans to run for governor only days before making a public announcement on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Coming from a political family, Maria initially was apprehensive about Arnold running for office, but was later convinced by her mother that she had to allow him to enter the race.

From that moment, Maria showed unwavering support, giving up her TV career and even defending him against accusations of groping women, but in 2011, that all fell apart when Arnold admitted to fathering a love child with a household staffer.

"If you would have asked me 10 years ago, five years ago, two years ago, what is the most important thing in my life, I would tell you over and over, it's my marriage, it's my family. So the thing that really meant the most to me kinda fell apart because of my doing. That is something that I will always look back and say, "How could you have done that?"